Meet the Authors of The Eco-Nomical Baby Guide, Part 1

To read the Top 10 Reasons to read The Eco-nomical Baby Guide and enter to WIN your very own copy of the book click HERE.   

I've been a fan of the blog Green Baby Guide (by Rebecca Kelley and Joy Hatch) for a couple of years now, so it's no surprise that I also love the authors' new book, The Eco-nomical Baby Guide.  I decided to ask these successful bloggers/authors a few questions, and they graciously answered!  

 

photo by Gina E. Kelley

 Q&A with Rebecca Kelley and Joy Hatch,  

Authors of The Eco-Nomical Baby Guide

How did you find time to research and write this book (and blog!) with work, babies and small children???

The writing and planning was the fun part. We both needed and enjoyed having a creative endeavor in addition to our childcare and work responsibilities. Of course, not every step of our writing and publishing journey could qualify as “fun,” but we were both dedicated to make it work.

We’re both the most productive when we are on break (we’re both teachers) and aren’t giving birth to a baby or caring for a newborn!

What is your favorite part of the The Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down-to-Earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet?

We love the diaper chapters! Four years ago, there were no other “green baby” books to speak of. Now there are probably a dozen—but few of them devote more than a few pages to diapers. For us, this was a huge oversight! And we’ve found that our readers at the Green Baby Guide respond to our diaper posts more than any other eco-baby topic.

What was the hardest part of the book to research and/or write?

The chapter on finding new, eco-friendly baby gear was the toughest to write because we had the least personal experience with it. We admit this right in the book: neither of us spent much (any?) money on stuff like organic onesies and free-trade rattles.

What is your most awesome tip/info that did NOT make it into the book?

Maybe it’s yet to come!   We both love lots of green pursuits that didn’t fit in with a baby guide including gardening, our obsession with dish soap, and secondhand fashion. We did literally hundreds of revisions to the book and had the stamina to keep coming back and working through it.  It’s been great to hear that so many people have loved it because we invested so much time, energy and heart into it.  Maybe our next book will contain some of those other interesting tips on green living!


Stay tuned for the part 2 of the Q&A to learn

• how Joy and Rebecca became interested in frugal and green living
• the authors' best tips for new bloggers
• the fate of the Green Baby Guide blog

 To read part 2 of this Q&A, click HERE.

This post is part of Things I Love Thursday.

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GIVEAWAY and Book Review: The Eco-nomical Baby Guide

This post is a review of The Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down-to-Earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet by Joy Hatch and Rebecca Kelley.

Top Ten Reasons to Read
The Eco-nomical Baby Guide

1. Helps you save the planet AND save money
There are many books about how to be greener with baby.  But do any give more than a cursory nod towards thriftiness?  Other books that help you save money have little to say about earth-friendliness or avoiding toxins.  Learning new ways to save green and be green works for me!

2. Not another judgmental, all-or-nothing parenting guide
If you have read any parenting books or infant care guides, you know that many of them try to persuade you that if you do not follow their advice, your child will be emotionally scarred and/or mentally impaired.  These overbearing self-important books made my insecure, impressionable, new-parent self even more stressed out and overwhelmed.  This book is not like that!  One of the book’s mottos: progress, not perfection!  They even admit their own eco-sins.

3. Full of awesome information
I spent the first months of my first child’s life obsessively researching greener alternatives.  I have also read the Green Baby Guide (the authors’ blog) pretty faithfully for a few years.  I still learned many new things from reading this book.

4. Options, options, options
Their green product recommendations include “Heirloom Picks,” “Midrange Options,” and “Economy Picks.”  I like that.  They also give advice on where to splurge and where to save on baby gear, baby food, and other stuff.  They also present a huge range of options on each topic.  On the topic of diapering, for example, they discuss the cheapest disposables to the easiest cloth diapers to infant potty training!

5. Easy to browse
You could read this book in little snippets and get a whole lot out of it.  As a parent of young children, I appreciate this.

6. If you are frugal, this book validates your cheapness by telling you why being frugal is also greener
If someone accuses you of being a tightwad, cheapskate or miser, after reading this book you will be able to explain to them how really you are just doing your part to save the earth.

7. If you are green, this book shows you how greener can also be cheaper
Does your mother-in-law thinks you’re ridiculous for worrying about Mother Earth or environmental toxins?  After reading this book you will be able to explain to her how really you are just being frugal so you can deposit more money in her grandchild’s college fund.

8. Avoids TMI on toxins
I’ve read several books on how to be a greener parent when I had my first child.  These books tell you all about the horrible stuff in everyday household products, toys, bedding, etc.  As a new parent, there was no way I could immediately make all the changes these books recommended due to a lack of money and time.  Thus, the information mostly tended to make me overly paranoid and anxious about the evil toxins lurking all around my children.  This book addresses some of the worst toxins (in a non-scary, practical and frugal manner) and then points you towards additional information if you want it.

9. A taste of reality
This book is by 2 moms with young children.  It includes tales from the authors’ lives, many humorous asides and comments from regular folks who are readers of the Green Baby Guide.

10. Additional resources at the end of each chapter
Additional information on baby gear, cloth diapers, disposable diapers, crafts, green companies, breastfeeding, recipes for cleaners, household toxins, and more.

8 Ways to Enter the Giveaway

You can enter more than once! Each way listed below gets you one entry.  All comments have to be posted by May 31, 2010.  This contest is for U.S. Readers only.  The winner will be randomly selected and announced June 1, 2010 on the Eco-novice homepage.

1. Leave a comment to this post.
2. Does your library have copies of The Eco-nomical Baby Guide?
     If not, request a purchase, then leave a comment.
3. Email a friend about this giveaway, then leave a comment.
4. Become a follower or subscriber of this blog (see left sidebar).
5. Post this giveaway on Facebook, then leave a comment.
6. Go to Eco-Novice’s Facebook page, click on "Like,"
     then leave a comment here.
7. Add Eco-Novice to your blogroll,
     then leave a comment with the link.
8. Post this giveaway on your blog,
     then leave a comment with the link.

Full disclosure:  I was sent a free copy of this book (which I am now offering to YOU in this giveaway) by the publisher.  I am also a devoted fan of the authors' blog, Green Baby Guide.

This post is part of
Top Ten Tuesday
Works for Me Wednesday
Thrifty Thursday

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Fragrance = Secret Yucky Ingredients

You maybe don't look at the ingredient list on your perfume or cologne. I never used to. But then a few years ago, I did start worrying about the ingredients in my personal products. After a bit of research, I noticed that lots of organizations recommended that individuals avoid the ingredient "fragrance" in personal products. Because fragrance is treated as a trade secret, manufacturers are not required to disclose the exact ingredients of whatever substances constitute their fragrance. And some of those ingredients ain't good for you.
The Environmental Working Group and Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recently released a report describing the results of the laboratory tests of 17 name brand fragrance products.  Although this report focuses on fragrance products like perfume or cologne or body sprays, what they say about the use of the term "fragrance" is true for all personal products, meaning that the "fragrance" in your favorite shampoo probably includes some unhealthy chemicals.

Here are a few highlights from the report (emphasis mine):

Many scents are actually a complex cocktail of natural essences and synthetic chemicals – often petrochemicals.

The average fragrance product tested contained 14 secret chemicals not listed on the label. Among them are chemicals associated with hormone disruption and allergic reactions, and many substances that have not been assessed for safety in personal care products.

Also in the ranks of undisclosed ingredients are chemicals with troubling hazardous properties or with a propensity to accumulate in human tissues. These include diethyl phthalate, a chemical found in 97 percent of Americans (Silva 2004) and linked to sperm damage in human epidemiological studies (Swan 2008), and musk ketone, a synthetic fragrance ingredient that concentrates in human fat tissue and breast milk (Hutter 2009; Reiner 2007).

Fragrance secrecy is legal due to a giant loophole in the Federal Fair Packaging and Labeling Act of 1973, which requires companies to list cosmetics ingredients on the product labels but explicitly exempts fragrance. By taking advantage of this loophole, the cosmetics industry has kept the public in the dark about the ingredients in fragrance, even those that present potential health risks or build up in people’s bodies.

Even if your shampoo or lotion says "hypoallergenic," "natural," or "unscented," it may still have "fragrance" as one of the ingredients.  If you want to avoid undisclosed ingredients, check the list of ingredients when shopping for personal products, and avoid any product that lists "fragrance" as one of its ingredients.


Going Green Gradually? 
Next time you run out of deodorant, shampoo or lotion, try to replace it with a personal product without "fragrance" in the ingredient list.

What's in your fragrance?

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Delectable Homemade Granola

There are A LOT of recipes for granola on the Internet.  Lucky for you, I've done all the research and tinkering and have come up with a delicious recipe.  I like the oat-to-nut ratio here and the amount of sweetness.  I used to eat Trader Joe's Granola and The Three Berries, because it was a reasonably priced granola.  But you know what?  It doesn't have any nuts --  just oats, dried berries and cane sugar.  I also prefer natural sweeteners to processed sugar -- one of the reasons I make my own granola.  Store-bought granola with lots of nuts and no sugar is hard to find and expensive.

Easy Homemade Granola

2 cups rolled oats (NOT quick oats)
1/2 cup almonds (I like sliced)
1/4 cup walnut pieces
1/8 cup sesame seeds
1/8 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup maple syrup

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.  Measure and combine oil, honey and maple syrup using a 1-cup measuring cup.  Heat the wet ingredients for 1 minute in microwave.  Pour over dry ingredients and stir until well-combined.  On a well-oiled jelly roll pan (about 10" x 18") -- I use a spray -- pour out the mixture and spread evenly.  Bake at 325 for 20 minutes, stirring every 5-7 minutes.  Let cool a little, then pour into an airtight container.  Good for 1-2 weeks, in my experience.  I freeze most of mine for much longer and only take out what we'll need for the next several days.  Makes about 3.5 cups of granola.  You can add dried fruit -- I don't.


A few notes:

• You can probably buy granola cheaper than you can make this one -- but you won't find one with as many nuts (and protein) for cheaper.
• Buy nut pieces.  They are cheaper than whole nuts anyway.
• I've shopped around a bit for the best prices.  Buy sliced almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds at Trader Joe's.  I bought unsweetened coconut and sesame seeds in bulk section of Whole Foods.  I buy oats and honey at Costco. Maple syrup is expensive -- I know this.  However, it really makes a difference on the flavor.  Maple syrup from Costco is the cheapest I've found. 
• I tried using aluminum foil.  The granola sticks to it worse and the foil rips when you try to get the granola off with a spatula.  Stick with a greased pan, no foil.
• I love this granola for breakfast (esp. over shredded wheat), on plain yogurt, or plain as a little sweet snack.
• My toddler loves this granola too.
• This recipe can easily be adapted -- more nuts, less oats, no walnuts, more almonds, pecans instead of walnuts, less honey/maple syrup.  If you want to keep the relative sweetness about the same, keep your oat-to-sweetener ratio the same.  The oats absorb all the sweetener.  Coconut adds a little sweetness too.

What's in your granola?

 This post is part of Frugal Friday.

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Lazy and Cheap Ways to Be Green, Part 2 (Baby Eats Normal Food)

 Child #2 eating grapefruit, with a little help from Papa.

 ***Please note that I am not a doctor or nutritionist.***   

With my second child, I saved the planet and money by avoiding packaged foods!  I saved time by not making those fruit and veggie purees.  Keep reading to find out how.  If you'd like to read about my solid food failure before reading about my solid food success, read the previous post first.  For a very simple set of infant feeding ideas, read this post. 

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My Solid Food Failure

Be green and save green by avoiding packaged foods!  Save time by not making those fruit and veggie purees.  Skip to the next post to learn how.  And for a very simple set of infant feeding ideas, read this post.  This post, however, is about my solid food failures. 

When child #1 was 6 months old, I bought a lot of Earth's Best Organic baby food in those little glass jars.  Some he ate, some he did not.  I also made many purees of fruit and steamed veggies and froze them in little ice cube trays.  Some he ate, many he didn't.  I threw out many of those cubes about a year after I made them and found them in the back of the freezer.  I made most of his "infant cereal" by grinding up different whole grains (barley, rice, millet, etc.) and sometimes legumes and then cooking them in water.  The infant cereal was really my only success.  Baby Bites and Super Baby Food were my basic guides. In general, I was a bit neurotic about the whole thing -- inasmuch as I was trying to follow my doctor's advice:  only introduce one food at a time and then wait 3-4 days, no salt, no choking hazards, wait until X months for Y, etc.

My plan was to begin introducing lots of table foods to my toddler when he was 12-18 months.  Then I got pregnant and very sick for 30+ weeks.  No cooking (or even reheating) was allowed in the house.  My husband bought soup everyday while at work and had sandwiches and salads for dinner.  I'm not sure what the toddler ate -- rice, cereal, bread, yogurt, fruit, I'm guessing.  Fast forward a couple of years -- he still subsists on grains, dairy, nuts and fruit.  No beans, no tofu, no meat and very little of the regular stuff I cook for me and my husband.  In general, my toddler (child #1) is a picky eater and I feel like it's at least partly my fault.

Want to read a story with a happier ending?  Read my next post about my solid food success with baby #2.


How did you introduce solid foods to your baby?

.

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Wiping my Baby's Bottom

 

I love wiping my baby's bottom with cloth wipes!  When your child has a poopy blowout (or pooplosion), how many of those disposable baby wipes does it take you to clean off that bottom?  When I used disposables, it took me 3 or more to clean my infant's bottom, depending on the extent of the damage.  And I inevitably wound up with some yellow poop on my hands.  By the time my first child was a toddler and a major fruit lover, it took me as many as 5 wipes to get the pasty poop off every nook of his little bum. 

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Environmentally-Induced Cancer Underestimated

The President's Cancer Panel recently published a report stating that the "true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated."  Beginning on page xix (page 27 of the 240-page PDF file), you can find recommendations for individuals, including (rewording by me):

• Minimize children's exposure to toxics
• Moms and Dads should avoid exposure to endocrine-disruption chemicals and carcinogens pre-conception through pregnancy and early life, when risk of damage is greatest
• Remove your shoes before entering your home
• Filter your tap water
• Store water in steel, glass or BPA/phthalate-free containers
• Microwave foods and beverages in ceramic and glass
• Choose foods grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, and growth hormones
• Avoid consumption of processed, charred and well-done meats
• Make informed decisions about products you buy (consult Household Products Database)
• Don't use pesticides or fertilizers in your landscaping
• Turn of lights and electrical devices when not in use to save electricity
• Bike, walk and use public transportation when possible
• Quit smoking and avoid second-hand smoke
• Wear a headset when using a cell phone and keep calls brief
• Check home radon levels
• Carefully consider using medical procedures that involve radiation exposure
• Avoid overexposure to UV through clothing, sunscreen, avoiding intense sunlight
• Communicate your desire for a reduction in environmental toxics to policymakers, manufacturers and trade organizations.  Use your dollar to vote:  buy less-toxic products!

Reaction to the report was mixed, applauded by some cancer advocacy groups and criticized by others, such as the American Cancer Society.  Still "the [American] cancer society shared the panel’s concerns about people’s exposure to so many chemicals, the lack of information about chemicals, the vulnerability of children and the radiation risks from medical imaging tests."  That's a quote from the NY Times article titled "U.S. Panel Criticized as Overstating Cancer Risks."  The NY Times article notes the report's criticism of the United State's reactionary regulatory approach of environmental toxins (emphasis mine):

Nearly 80,000 chemicals are in use in the United States, and yet only a few hundred have been tested for safety, the report notes. It criticizes the nation’s regulatory approach, calling it reactionary rather than precautionary, which means that the government waits for proof of harm before taking action, instead of taking preventive steps when there is uncertainty about a chemical. Regulation is ineffective, the panel says, in part because of inadequate staffing and financing, overly complex rules, weak laws, uneven enforcement and undue industry influence. 

I agree with the panel!  Lame regulatory approach.  Here is an excerpt from the report's cover letter to the President:

The Panel was particularly concerned to find that the true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated. With nearly 80,000 chemicals on the market in the United States, many of which are used by millions of Americans in their daily lives and are un- or understudied and largely unregulated, exposure to potential environmental carcinogens is widespread. One such ubiquitous chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), is still found in many consumer products and remains unregulated in the United States, despite the growing link between BPA and several diseases, including various cancers.

While BPA has received considerable media coverage, the public remains unaware of many common environmental carcinogens such as naturally occurring radon and manufacturing and combustion by-products such as formaldehyde and benzene. Most also are unaware that children are far more vulnerable to environmental toxins and radiation than adults. Efforts to inform the public of such harmful exposures and how to prevent them must be increased. All levels of government, from federal to local, must work to protect every American from needless disease through rigorous regulation of environmental pollutants.

Find the full report here.


What step will you take to limit your family's exposure to environmental toxins?  

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Make Your Own Hummus

I love hummus.  And, more importantly, my toddler loves hummus.  My toddler loves carbs, fruits, veggies, and dairy, but does not eat meat and almost never eats legumes or tofu.  So I worry a bit about his protein intake.  But he loves hummus, so we try to have it on hand at all times.  I once was in love with Trader Joe's Mediterranean hummus, but it's about $4 a package, and I sometimes had to throw some out at the end because of the large quantity.  So I decided it was time to figure out how to make hummus on my own, to save money and to avoid waste.  This recipe is just delicious:

Homemade Hummus
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
juice from 1 lemon
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T tahini
2 T water
1-2 garlic cloves
3/4 t Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1/8 t cayenne

I make it in the food processor attachment of my immersion blender.  However, canned food has its issues, and my sister told me about Bob's Red Mill Stone Ground Garbanzo Bean Flour.  Here are the reasons why I now make the hummus with the flour instead of canned garbanzo beans:

1. There are those pesky BPA concerns with canned foods.  BPA is an endocrine disruptor, and the lining of virtually every canned food contains BPA.
2. I can control the level of salt better with the flour (the canned beans have salt added)
3. Canned food is heavy to carry home from the grocery store and from house to house (we move a lot), and it probably uses a good deal of energy to manufacture and ship the cans (on the other hand, the cans are recyclable)
4. Fresh usually tastes better than canned
5. It's cheaper

I use the same recipe as above, but I replace the can of garbanzo beans with a bean mixture. So here is my new hummus recipe:

Homemade Hummus, take 2
1 1/4 cup water plus 3/8 c garbanzo bean flour
juice from 1 lemon
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T tahini
2 T water
1-2 garlic cloves
3/4 t Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1/8 t cayenne
 
Bring 1 1/4 cups water to a boil on medium high heat.  Whisk 3/8 garbanzo flour into the boiling water
Turn heat to medium low and stir constantly for 1 minute.  Put the lid on and cook for 5 min.  Let cool a bit.
In a food processor puree garbanzo bean mixture plus all the other stuff (lemon juice, oil, tahini, water, garlic, salt, cayenne pepper).  You may want to add more salt since the bean mixture has no salt.


This second method does get an extra pot dirty.  However, it's cheaper, creamier, and BPA-free.  As an added bonus, I can add the garbanzo flour to my baby's whole grain cereal mixture.  The bag of flour is pretty light (about 1 1/2 pounds) and is equivalent to 13 cans of garbanzo beans. 

What steps have you taken to avoid BPA?
 
Photo credit: Albertas Agejevas

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My 9-Month-Old is Potty Trained!!!

Just kidding.  However, it does seem to be easier to get my baby to poop in the potty than my toddler.

We are several weeks into potty training my nearly 3yo.  He pees in the potty like a pro.  Without any prompting, he runs to the potty, pulls down his pants, and pees.  And if I tell him he needs to pee before we leave the house, he runs to the potty and pees.  He also has been dry at night for several months (long before potty training began) and has stayed dry for more than 3 hours while we were out of the house.  And I should be grateful.  But sometimes I'm not.  Because he still poops in his underpants.  He pooped several times in a row in the potty a few weeks ago and I thought we were home free.  In fact, I read this post and felt really sad for all the poor schmucks (i.e., post author and commenters) whose boys just take so darn long to go #2 in the pot! 

Well, the smugness is gone and desperation has arrived.  You know how all those potty training books tell you to stay positive even when your kid has an accident (no blame!  no shame!)?  Yesterday I was positive during the first poopy accident, neutral and stoic during the second, and pretty ticked cleaning up the third ("Poop goes in the potty! Poop goes in the potty!" in an unfriendly voice).  I shouldn't care that much, because I just throw his poopy underpants in the wash with the baby's cloth diapers.  Yet, I do care, because my expectations have shifted.  For the last 6+ months, he has NEVER pooped when we are out (only at home) nor in front of us, so I know he can control when he poops.  So now I have pulled out the big guns: ridiculously awesome "Poo Poo Prizes" (leftover Christmas gifts he never got around to opening, etc.) and a "Poo Poo Treat" he picked out himself at Trader Joe's, which we purposely eat in front of him after we go #2.  I'll let you know if it works.

On the other hand. . . inspired by this post and frustrated by my efforts with potty training a preschooler, I thought, maybe I'll try sitting my baby on the potty.  My preschooler was not a very regular baby, but my second child, she poops every morning when she wakes up.  So this morning when the baby and I woke up, I got up to change her diaper as usual when she started to strain just as I removed the diaper.  Remembering my vow to do potty training differently with the next child, I took off the baby's diaper and whisked her off to sit on the potty seat on top of the toilet.  She was kind of weirded out, but I sang some songs and made funny noises as I held her there.  After a few minutes I thought to myself, this isn't going to work.  And then you know what?

She pooped in the potty.

-------

What are you best potty training tricks?


To read everything I know about early potty training, CLICK HERE.
 

This post is part of 

Works for Me Wednesday

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